


Broken Pieces Make Sharp Edges

by OfftoMaurs



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, But Like...Ya Know, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, May Parker Gets A Hug, Not Technically Major Character Death since they already died I guess?, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Tony Stark Needs a Hug, but then
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 08:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14997290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfftoMaurs/pseuds/OfftoMaurs
Summary: There was a numbness that wormed it's way into every crevice of Tony's being that had prevented him from shedding a tear. It had been a little over a week since he and the cyborg woman, whom he later learned was named Nebula, managed to escape the deserted planet of Titan and crash landed their way back to Earth.





	Broken Pieces Make Sharp Edges

**Author's Note:**

> I’m so sorry this just came to me at 2 in the morning and I had to write it I’m so sorry this was painful to write

There was a numbness that wormed it's way into every crevice of Tony's being that had prevented him from shedding a tear. It had been a little over a week since he and the cyborg woman, whom he later learned was named Nebula, managed to escape the deserted planet of Titan and crash landed their way back to Earth.

Surprisingly he didn't seek out the remaining Avengers first. By whatever means necessary at that time, he trudged his way back to Queens, Nebula in tow, determined make his way to May Parker's apartment. He dreaded every footstep he made the closer he got. The destruction of the city didn't help. He wondered morbidly if it would be better if she had disappeared in the Snap. The darker and more shrouded part of his mind almost hoped she had. Tony knew better than that. He didn't need to go to her apartment to know she had been spared. The universe has a cruel way of testing that of an individual who lost almost everything by taking away what little they had left. 

He only managed to knock once before the door was thrown open and he was faced with a wary and distressed May Parker. Maybe it was something in his eyes, or his expression, he would never know nor would he ask, but the woman took one look at him and immediately discerned what he should have never had to tell her. The tears welled in her eyes and he was prepared for screaming, for blaming, for hitting, for any kind of violent reaction. But she did nothing. And it felt wrong.

"Did...did he...was it..." She couldn't finish her sentence, the words visibly lodged in her throat, but Tony knew what she was asking.

"He disappeared. Like the others." Tony answered quietly. 

"Did he suffer?" She asked. There was bitterness in the words, but oddly enough they weren't towards him and he realized why. Her husband was shot and suffered that pain until he passed. And then he realized he couldn't honestly tell her that Pe—that the kid hadn't. When he'd seen the others fade, they didn't particularly react, they just...went. But, the kid reacted before it started, and he was horrified at the mere implication that he had felt every moment of it. 

Tony blinked once and just...withered. "I...I don't know." He answered honestly.

May nodded, tears running rapidly down her cheeks. She wiped furiously at the tears and pointed a sharp finger at him, face contorted in a grimace like she was struggling to hold back the emotions that were bubbling in her throat. "Swear to me you did everything you could to keep him safe, Tony." She gritted out. "Swear to me, please." The last word sounded broken and defeated.

Hesitantly, Tony took her hand and grasped it, looking her straight in the eyes, ignoring the lump in his throat and sting behind his eyes. "I swear," he said quietly.

That must have broke the dam, he thought, as she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him heartbreaking so a erupting from her body as she cried into his chest. And yet, Tony did not cry. Did not shed a tear.

After that, Tony made his way to the Avengers compound, the entire week was something of a blur. He barely remembered talking to the remaining Avengers, merely asking who was left and what their game plan was. But they had no game plan. No idea where to even start. So they sat in silence until night fall each day that week and everyone returned to their respectful sleeping quarters where none of them actually entertained the thought of sleep. Tony found himself in the common area of the Compound, staring mindlessly at a tumbler of bourbon. He hasn't drank any, hasn't drunken anything alcoholic in a while. He kept thinking of the kid. He hated himself to referring to him as the kid. But the minute he spoke of his name, the minute he even thought of it, he knew he'd break down and he swore, mostly to himself, that he wouldn't.

Sighing, he emptied the tumbler of bourbon down the sink drain and slowly made his way to one of the couches near the TV. He sat down heavily, something uncomfortable immediately dug into his back. He stood up and fished around for what was wedged between the couch cushions. It was screwdriver, it looked brand new with the head painted deep red with accents of gold, not unlike his Iron Man armor. He nearly tossed it until he felt around the shank and felt a neatly rolled up piece of paper. He unrolled the paper and smoothed it out to see a few words written on it.

_I know it's not much but I wanted to make you something I made on my own to give to you for everything you've done for me. So I made you a screwdriver! Same colors as your suit! Like I said, it isn't much...but you've done so much for me and Aunt May that...I couldn't express it only in words, but in a gesture. Thanks for everything, Mr. Stark_  
                                        From, Peter  
                                         P.S. Peter Parker btw :) 

That's when he broke. Tony thought he could hold it all in and be strong, he thought he could just go on, work tirelessly until he figured out a solution to bring him back, bring them all back so that their names wouldn't be uttered in past tense like they weren't there. But there was that note, staring him dead in the face and crushing him with the reality that the ki—Peter, wasn't here. The first quiet sob broke through his lips, creating a landslide of more loud broken sobs and cries of agony as his knees buckled and he fell to the floor, clutching the note and screwdriver closer to his chest. The cries didn't stop for what felt like hours. Eventually the violent agonized cries stopped, and he sat in silence dries tears and new ones caking his face. He had broken, something he swore he wouldn't do. But those breaks made sharp edges, poised to cut anyone or anything that got in his way of fixing what that bastard had done. He would use those sharp edges, and cut away at Thanos until he felt every single slice and agony of pain that the Mad Titan had infused in him that day.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this little angst fest here :)
> 
> Come say hi on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/moonbeamshuri)


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